


Three brides and a groom for four brothers

by twin_fics



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: M/M, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-03
Updated: 2012-04-03
Packaged: 2017-11-03 00:03:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/374838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twin_fics/pseuds/twin_fics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the classic movie 'Seven brides for seven brothers' ... only a bit different  ^______~</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unbetaed.

Ohno stared back at the faces of his three younger brothers with a disapproving frown instead of his normally peaceful expression. “I’m totally against this crazy plan,” he stated sternly.

With a sigh, the eldest brother rose from his old armchair and moved away from the fireplace where a lively fire warmed the small room. Then, the short man walked up to the centre of the room and confronted his younger brothers with a resolute expression plastered on his round face.

“But Satoshi, if we don’t do that we’ll never get a bride!” Aiba, the tallest brother, only two years younger than Ohno, protested heatedly. The usually happy and bubbly man brusquely stood up, knocking his wooden chair over, and shoot a desperate look at his older brother.

“Masaki, I’m sure that you like that girl a lot – even if you have met her only two weeks ago, - but I can assure you that kidnapping your future bride isn’t the best way to start a good relationship with her... or with your future in-law, by the way.” Ohno replied, rubbing his temples tiredly. He and his brothers had been talking about those women and the events happened in the festival for days, but today was the first time he had heard about the outrageous plan they had sketched out. “Why don’t you try to woo them instead?” he proposed.

“We tried, but the other men of the village didn’t let us get closer to the women,” Jun, the youngest brother, murmured with resentment while he rubbed the almost healed bump on his black-haired head - a painful present of one of those men in the festival that all the brothers minus Ohno had attended two weeks ago.

Sho, the second brother, rubbed his neck awkwardly and looked at his brothers, torn between the bitter expressions of his younger brothers and the clear disapproval shown by the eldest one. He was reluctant to go against Satoshi’s opinion, but he, like his younger brothers, was still vexed by the result of the festival. Only because they were flirting a bit with the pretty girls attending the festival, the jealous men of the village had treated them unfairly, getting even to hurt Jun and go unpunished for it. When Sho and his brothers had protested, the villagers had played down the importance of the offence, forcing them to put up with the smugness on the culprit.

“Satoshi-” he tried to argue.

“Stop,” his older brother interrupted him raising a hand. “You aren’t going to kidnap those girls and that’s definitive,” he affirmed, deepening his frown and piercing his brothers with his most stern glare. With those words, the eldest brother considered the argument over and left the room, hoping to have knocked some common sense into his younger brothers.  

After his departure, the three remaining brothers looked at each other with different degrees of worry, anger and stubbornness.

“What do we do now?” asked Aiba, with his lips pursued forming a line. “Are we going to continue with the plan, or are we going to cancel it as Satoshi has ordered us?”

Jun, bad-tempered, gritted his teeth and sat brusquely on his stool, crossing his arms and refusing to talk anymore about the matter.

Sho, still undecided, looked at his two brothers and then at the closed door through which Satoshi had disappeared. What should they do? After pondering about the pros and cons, he finally made a decision. “We’re going to do it,” he affirmed, looking with resolution at his younger brothers.

Aiba and Jun’s faces brightened with his words. “YAY!” Aiba loudly exclaimed to be immediately silenced by Jun’s hand clamped on his mouth. “Shut up or Satoshi will get suspicious!” the youngest brother hissed at his older brother through his gritted teeth. Aiba nodded with his eyes wide open.

“But... what are we going to do with Satoshi?” he whispered after Jun removed this hand, pointing at the closed door.

“Pray for him not to realize our plan until it is too late,” Sho replied with a conspiratorial wink.

Aiba shook his head, trying to convey his worries. “No, what I mean is what about him? Wouldn’t he be left alone when we get our brides?”

The brothers looked each other with troubled expressions. “You have a point there,” Sho murmured, frowning. “He has always been a loner but I don’t like him becoming even lonelier...”

“Then, the most logical conclusion is that we should kidnap a bride for him too,” reasoned Jun with a mischievous smile.

The brothers looked each other, a big smile spreading on their faces.


	2. Chapter 2

“Hahaha! Really funny Kazue,” Nino laughed without humour glaring angrily at his sister, who was currently almost split in half with laughter, too busy recovering her breath to pay him any attention. 

Without bothering to conceal his distaste, the short man pulled out the collar of his offensive, over-laced and _pink_ nightdress, a loan from his sister to _temporally_ replace his dirty pyjamas... Cursed dog and its crazy tendencies to play in the mud with whatever piece of cloth it could find! Besides, his other pyjamas weren’t clean yet and the weather was too cold to sleep without wearing anything. Damn it!

“But you look so _pretty_ in it!” his sister exclaimed, wiping her tears and trying to normalize her breathing.

Nino frowned fiercely and began to turn around when his sister stopped him. “Wait, you’re missing something important!” she exclaimed and put him a laced pink bonnet that matched with the nightdress he was wearing. Immediately after, she let out an explosive laughter and ran stairs up to escape from his rage.

“You...” he growled menacingly and began to pursue her when his mother’s words stopped him. “Kazu, please, let the cat enter or its meowing would never let us sleep.”

Planning gruesome punishments to inflict to his sister, he silently opened the door – there was no need to alert the neighbours about his shameful looks, right? - and looked around, trying to glimpse their noisy pet in the shadows. Suddenly, someone seized him from behind and put a blanket over his head, muffling effectively his shocked shriek.

“We got her!” he heard a triumphant whisper behind him while two strong arms lifted him. A moment later he was being carried on someone’s shoulder.

“Ouch!” he protested when the bonny shoulder plunged into his stomach. “Release me now!” he yelled, fighting furiously against his kidnappers, who secured the blanket around him with a rope.

“Whoa! She’s really strong!” a voice complained, “Hurry up! Help me to carry her to the cart!”

A moment later, Nino felt the hard floor of a wooden cart under his bare feet and the moving forms of other people – presumably trapped in blankets too – beside him. The high-pitched cries of panic, cleverly muffled by the blankets, made him realize that the other captives were probably some of the village’s young women. Fuming, he tried again to break free from his captors and had the satisfaction to hear a loud cry of pain when his left foot connected with the ‘delicate’ parts of one of them. Inside his confinement, Nino smiled evilly hearing his kidnapper utter a colourful string of curse words.

“Masaki, couldn’t you find a better girl for Satoshi?” a pained voice complained, but Nino didn’t catch the reply.

In the distance, the loud peal of the alarm followed by the villager’s cries of alarm awaked the peaceful village. _“Thanks God! Someone noticed the kidnappers!”_  
   
“Gee up!”

The old vehicle quickly set off and the sudden motion almost made Nino fall out of the cart, but a strong arm caught him and pushed his body towards the other wrapped up forms. “Hurry! We must get at least a ten-minutes lead before we cross the northern pass!” someone anxiously exclaimed.

The cart began to gain velocity, leaving the sounds of the alerted village behind.

 _“Who are this people and why are they kidnapping our village’s women? What’s their purpose?”_   Nino asked himself, wriggling in hopes to loosen the ropes that kept him trapped inside the blanket. A moment later, he felt someone holding him to prevent his movements. “The doctor’s daughter surely is strong, isn’t she?”

 _“So, their true intention was to kidnap Kazue!”_ Nino realized and narrowed his eyes with anger.  
 _“When we arrive to our destination I’ll make sure you regret your audacity!”_

The cart brusquely reduced its velocity. “Stay calm now,” he heard a deep voice quietly say. “We’re crossing the pass. Try to prevent the girls from making any noise or we can cause an avalanche.”

“Shhhh!” another voice coaxed them, “if you cry now you can cause an avalanche that would kill all of us.”

Hearing those words, Nino was tempted to yell, but he wasn’t a fool and didn’t want to cause an avalanche that could kill the poor kidnapped women. Moreover, he didn’t have any desire to die without killing his kidnapers before!

Some excruciating minutes later, the cart gained velocity again followed by their kidnapper’s cries of exultation. “Quick! They are almost arriving to the pass!” someone shouted and his yell was followed by some shots into the air – he hoped they were into the air and not pointed towards the pursuers.

Suddenly, a huge tremor shook the pass and the sound of tons and tons of snow collapsing almost deafened him. _“An avalanche? They have blocked the pass! Now there is no way the villagers can rescue us!”_ realized Nino, appalled. The girls seemed to have realized the same, because they started weeping and crying loudly again.

After what it seemed like hours later - though it probably was only half an hour, - the cart reduced its velocity again until it stopped completely. They had finally arrived to their destination.

Nino noticed that the ropes that tied him had loosened a bit during the journey. He surreptitiously began to lift the blanket that was wrapping him when a voice, deathly serious, chilled him to the bones.

“So, you finally decided to go against my wishes and kidnap those poor women, didn’t you?”


	3. Chapter 3

“So, you finally decided to go against my wishes and kidnap those poor women, didn’t you?”

All the small noises coming from the surrounding forest seemed to come to a halt after those words.

Beside him, Nino felt his kidnapper suppress a surprised gasp, his lanky body stiffening. At that moment, the blanket that covered him fell off completely, allowing him to see the scene in front of him.

They were in a clearing in the middle of a dark forest. In front of them, there was a small, lovely wooden cabin with an old barn behind it. And just a few meters apart from the cart, there was a short man - presumably the owner of the voice Nino had just heard, - with his dark, serious eyes fixed on the cart, the air around him seemed to crackle with his menacing aura.

A shiver ran down Nino’s spine and he gulped, trying to swallow the sudden lump in his throat. Unconsciously, he wrapped the blanket protectively around him.

The angry man slowly ran his eyes over them, carefully assessing the situation. Nino, feeling the sudden need to avoid his scorching glare, turned his head slightly, averting his eyes from the disapproving figure.

The kidnappers appeared in Nino’s line of view and the young man gasped in surprise. _He knew them_ , he realized, shocked. Two weeks ago, they had attended the dance festival, all smiles and good manners, but they had been unfairly bullied by the village’s youngsters for flirting with the young women. _“Those jerks! As if they had any right over them”_ , Nino thought, disgusted with his fellow citizen. It was a relief that Kazue had already found a kind, well-mannered boyfriend in the nearby village.

“But Satoshi,” the driver of the cart, a tall man with big eyes and heart-shaped mouth, tried to reply after getting over his shock.

“But nothing, Sho!” the man named Satoshi, whom Nino inferred was the eldest brother, barked back. “I’m really disappointed in all of you!” he stated, looking angrily at the faces of his brothers.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nino watched in fascination how the kidnappers flinched, slowly moving away from the short man.

“What were you thinking? You’re going to return those women to their families right now!” the man ordered with a stern expression.

“Satoshi... that won’t be possible...” the tallest kidnapper murmured apologetically.

“Yeah? And why is that?” the short man shot him a nasty look, helping one of the kidnapped girls out of her ties while waiting for his brother to elaborate on his explanation.

“We caused an avalanche...” the lanky man finally admitted, almost whispering, trying to look anywhere else but at the angry man.

The short man’s body stiffened and he turned his head to glare at the kidnapper who just spoke. “You blocked the pass?! YOU left us isolated during the whole winter?!” he exclaimed, even more furious now, his voice rising with each question. “What the hell were you thinking?” he shouted, “What will we do if we need medicines or other supplies from the village? Didn’t you consider that?!”

Both, the kidnappers and the kidnapped paled hearing those words. Shivering, Nino wrapped the blanket around him tighter, trying to counteract the sudden chill he felt.

The man took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. “O.k.” He finally said, looking at the remaining shapes in the cart. “Which one of these is the priest?” he asked, “The two of us will discuss what we should do next, and how we could sort out this horrible situation.”

Nino realized that the short man had wrongly assumed that the fourth kidnapped person in the cart was the village’s priest. _“Uh, oh”_ he thought, _“ He is not going to like what comes next.”_


	4. Chapter 4

“The priest!” exclaimed the tall, black-haired brother, smacking his forehead in dismay. “We forgot him!”

If things weren’t so serious, Nino would have laughed at the young brother’s comic expression but, looking at the furious man’s strained face, it was obvious that he failed to see the humor in the whole situation.

“So, who is the fourth person you’ve kidnapped?” the eldest brother asked a few seconds later, making a visible effort to control himself. A sudden idea occurred to him. His eyes widened with incredulity. “Don’t tell me...”

“Yes, we brought you a bride too!” the lanky brother chirped happily.

The two remaining brothers tried to shut him up, but it was too late already. There was a tense silence after those words.

“Enough!” The short man finally exploded. “I don’t want to hear another word from any of you!” he breathed shakily. “Later, I will think about what we are going to do but, for now, these women need a place to stay until the snow in the pass melts.” He sighed heavily, rubbing his temples to relieve the stress.

“The girls will have our house,” he finally decided, “and we’ll stay in the barn. If any of you try to sneak into the house…” he warned the ashamed men, approaching again the cart to help the weeping women to get down, “I swear you’ll wish you’d never been born.”

“Um… There is just a little problem with that,” Nino commented in a low voice, drawing everybody’s attention to himself. “I’m not one of the girls.” He took his bonnet off and raised his face, letting everybody realize that he was a male.

Everybody looked at him with shocked expressions and Nino blushed deeply under the intense scrutiny of the astonished eldest brother. With that last surprise, the poor man seemed to have reached his limit for that night. He simply stood there, looking aghast at Nino.

However, his younger brother seemed not to have the same problem. “Why are you in a pink nightdress?” he heard the bubbliest of the kidnappers ask, unable to contain his curiosity.

“Well, to make a long story short, I need to buy more pajamas and my sister thinks she’s really funny.”

“I knew she was far too strong to be a normal girl!” someone else murmured behind him and Nino grimaced, his eyes still fixed on the short man’s round face.

The words seemed to snap the man out of his stupor and he blinked repeatedly, trying to think of another plan. “O.k.,” he finally said, “the girls will sleep in our bedroom because it’s the biggest room of the house. “ _You_ ,” he added, pointing at his brothers, “you’ll sleep in the barn. Don’t think, even for a moment, that I’m going to let you off the hook so easily. You are not going to evade your responsibility for this.”

His brothers visibly flinched under his piercing glare.

“The boy will sleep in the small bedroom. After all, he’s just an innocent victim of your crazy plan and doesn’t need to suffer the harsh weather conditions in the barn.”

Nino felt relieved after hearing that. The barn seemed old and full of holes. Spending winter in it would be worse than staying in hell.

“And **_I_** will sleep in the house too, sharing the bedroom with him. Just to make sure that **_nothing_** ** _else_** happens.”

Nino let out an outraged hiss, offended by what he was implying. But the short man shot him a warning glare and he decided to let it pass this time - but only because he was freezing in the middle of nowhere with that stupid, pink nightgown, really.

An hour later, after he helped the short man to accommodate the girls in a big bedroom with four beds, Nino, now dressed in an old pair of blue pajamas that the round-faced man had lent him, was contentedly tucked in the remaining bedroom’s bed. In the shadows, he could glimpse the sleeping form of the short man resting on the bed he had prepared himself with a bunch of blankets and some cushions.

 _“He’s much nicer than he initially looked,”_ Nino thought, yawning widely.

A few seconds later, the young man, exhausted by the events of that night, finally fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

When Nino woke up the next morning, he found himself alone in the small bedroom.

“Where is he?” he asked himself, bewildered, looking around.

A moment later, the door opened and the chubby-faced man entered the room carrying a bundle of clothes. “Good morning,” he greeted Nino with an embarrassed smile, “I apologize for not introducing myself properly last night, but things were a bit confusing. My name is Ohno Satoshi,” he said, dropping the clothes on the bedspread.

“Ninomiya Kazunari,” replied Nino, “but everyone calls me Nino.”

“O.k. Nino,” nodded Ohno, “I’m going to leave these clothes here for you. When you’re ready, come down to the first floor and I will prepare something for breakfast.” With those words, the short man left the room to search for some clothes for the women.

Nino, confused, looked at the closed door and then at the clothes on the bed. With a shrug, he decided that he would worry about the situation later and quickly changed his clothes.

Ten minutes later, he went down the stairs, following the delicious scent of fried bacon, and found Ohno preparing the breakfast in the small kitchen situated at one side of the big room that served as dinning room, hall and salon, all at once. The short man was busy, taking something out of the oven, while the bacon crackled merrily in a pan on the stove.

Nino eyed the bacon hungrily, feeling his mouth watering, “Do you need help?” he asked approaching the man.

Ohno turned around, carrying a golden piece of fresh-backed bread. “Nino,” he smiled, “That would be great. Usually, Jun is the one who cooks. However, until he and the rest of my brothers properly apologize for the big mess they had caused, they’re banned out of the house, so I’m in charge of cooking.”

Nino nodded and hurried to take out the bacon before it burned. They worked side by side in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Nino couldn’t hold his curiosity any longer and he risked asking something that had been bugging him since he had found out that the kidnappers were in reality Ohno’s brothers.

“Hmmm, if you don’t mind me asking…” he paused to look at Ohno, who looked back, tilting his head inquisitively. “I noticed that you and your brothers don’t resemble each other...”

“That’s because none of us are related by blood with each other,” Ohno affirmed easily.

Nino stared at the other man, unable to conceal his bewilderment.

“When we were young we all lived in a small village far away from here,” Ohno began to explain, noticing the other man’s surprise. “Our families were great friends and we used to play together like brothers. But one day, the village was attacked by a band of ruthless robbers who tried to rob our small bank. They didn’t hesitate to shot anyone who got in their way. Finally, the sheriff and the remaining villagers stopped them, but it was too late for Jun, Masaki and Sho’s parents. After the funerals, my parents adopted them and soon after, we left the village in search for a new place to live. After some time, we found this place and settled here. With our help, my father built this farm.” Ohno paused in his story.

Nino, mesmerized by the story, inched closer to the short man. “And then?” he encouraged him to resume his story.

“We started living here. We get enough money to live comfortably trading our farm’s products in the nearby villages or selling the fur of the animals we hunt in winter. Unfortunately, five years ago, my parents died in an accident in one of those trading journeys. We have been living here alone since them.” Ohno finished his story with a tinge of sadness in his expression.

Watching Ohno’s sad face, Nino felt a guilty pang in his chest. “I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry I made you remember it,” he apologized, soothingly rubbing Ohno’s back without really noticing the familiarity of his action.

“Don’t worry,” Ohno said, shaking his head and smiling again. “After all, it was five years ago and I still have my brothers.”

Nino was going to say something when the noises of the women coming down the stairs interrupted him.

“Oh, the girls are here already,” Ohno exclaimed, drying his hands on a rag. “Help me carry this to the table, please,” he asked Nino before leaving the kitchen in a hurry, balancing some plates in his hands. Nino nodded absentmindedly, still thinking about Ohno’s story, and followed him to the main room.


	6. Chapter 6

_“Damn it! I did it again!”_ Nino, blushing intensely, chided himself for the umpteenth time that day. Still cursing under his breath, he quickly averted his eyes from Ohno’s plump limps, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. It was only a month since they had been kidnapped and he was already losing it. With a sigh, he blew hot air into his frozen hands, rubbing them in a futile attempt to warm them, and resumed his work cutting down the small log situated in front of him.

“Maybe helping them in their daily chores wasn’t one of my best ideas...” he murmured, trying to sort out his confused feelings.

At the beginning of his captivity, Nino had tried to distance himself from their captors and had spent all his time chatting with the girls about their current situation. Understandably, they were really worried about their families; how would they be coping with the situation? Would they be o.k.?

Despite the kidnappers’ humble apologies and Ohno’s kind attempts to break the ice, the girls were still rather angry with them. Nino, however, felt a bit ambivalent. On one hand, he understood the necessity of searching for a mate that their captors had, and he was sure that they had faced many difficulties carrying out their courtship, especially facing the jealousy of the village’s men and the reluctance and suspicion of the girls’ families. However, he couldn’t forgive so easily their selfish actions.

As time went on, Nino began to help Ohno with little chores inside the house, trying to counteract the boredom. The older man was clearly appalled by his younger brother’s blunt action and was trying his best to make the stay of the “involuntary guests” more bearable. His obvious interest in their welfare and his calm manners had slowly convinced the kidnapped women that their captors didn’t have bad intentions towards them.

However, helping the kind man had had a strange effect on Nino. He hadn’t noticed it at the beginning but, one day, one of the women had pointed out that he seemed to feel really at ease in the older man’s company. Hearing that, Nino had felt rather surprised but after revising his actions he had noticed that the women maybe had a point there because, whenever he was with the other man, he thoughtlessly moved close to him, - brushing their arms or knees while working had become a normal thing.

In principle, that behavior wasn’t that strange, right?...

But things hadn’t stopped there; sometimes, when Nino got lost in his own thoughts, he snapped out of his reverie with his eyes fixed on Ohno’s plump lips.

O.k. _perhaps_ he had a little fixation on the older man’s lips, but how can he help it if every time Ohno was staring blankly into space – and Ohno stared into space a lot, - the older man pouted with those sultry, plump lips, making almost impossible to avert his eyes from them?

A little taken aback by his growing obsession with Ohno, - which, to Nino’s dismay, was now beginning to develop in an embarrassing interest in the other man’s firm butt - he had decided to spend more time outside the house and less time in the aforementioned older man’s company. Therefore, he had decided to help Ohno’s younger brothers in their daily chores and began to get to know them better.

The first thing that surprised Nino was their different personalities.

Sho, the second brother, was really intelligent but at the same time had an awesome lack of common sense which made him a really funny guy. Moreover, he had a great sense of humor and didn’t mind in the slightest to be the target of his brothers’ jokes.

Aiba, the third brother, had a bubbly and optimistic personality that never failed to make people laugh with his antics. And, in spite of being a bit accident prone, the man had a streak of geniality that usually helped him to achieve the most impossible and incredible tasks.

And finally Jun, the youngest brother. Surprisingly, he had the most mature personality among them. A little quick-tempered, the youngest brother never refrained himself from whacking his older brothers – especially Aiba and Ohno – whenever they did something stupid. But from time to time, he let the people take a glimpse of his mischievous side – usually when he was working paired with Ohno.

The second thing that had surprised Nino was their attitude towards Ohno. Though the short man was the eldest brother, he could easily be mistaken for the youngest one. Once Ohno had forgiven them for kidnapping the women and Nino, the wary attitude of his brothers had melted and they had resumed their usual attitude towards his older brother; which was pampering him and making sure that he was correctly dressed or had eaten properly - the older man tended to get lost in his thoughts or obsessed with his hobbies till the point of forgetting to eat or to rest properly.

Finally, the third thing that had surprised Nino, and perhaps this was the greatest surprise of them all, was that he was beginning to behave towards Ohno the same way his brothers did; pampering him and worrying about his well-being.

Some mornings, for example, Nino couldn’t prevent himself from helping the sleepy man to button his blue flannel shirt up while Ohno just blinked owlishly, thanking him for his help with a cute, shy smile. Nino always replied with a big smile, playing down the importance of his action, trying to ignore the small voice in his head that insisted on unbuttoning the shirt instead of buttoning it.

And sometimes, Ohno’s drowsy smile made ignoring the small voice’s advice so damn hard.


	7. Chapter 7

As time went on, the relationship between Ohno’s brothers and the kidnapped women was getting better. Without anything to do during the winter, the boredom had pushed the women outside of their room and they had begun to help Ohno and his brothers in their daily chores.

Aiba and Becky, the daughter of the village’s veterinary, had easily bonded thanks to their mutual love for the farm’s animals and the little creatures coming from the forest in search of food. Both had a bubbly, happy attitude and were especially optimistic. They often spent the morning feeding the chickens, the cow and the horses that were sharing the barn with Ohno’s brothers – yeah, Ohno had stood firm on his decision of making his brothers sleep in the barn. When the weather had begun to get better, they had even glimpsed a shy roe deer wandering the limits of the forest searching for food.

However, Sho and Maki, the daughter of the main shop’s owner, had a totally different relationship. She was a girl with strong character, cold with the people who wasn’t close to her but unexpectedly sweet with the ones she knew well. She and Sho had had a few fights before connecting, but they had gradually come to understand each other. Now, it was usual to find them in the main room, calmly reading together the few books that Ohno’s parents had brought with them in their journey.

Jun and Mao had the funniest relationship in Nino’s opinion. The daughter of the apothecary, stubborn and rebellious, often faced Jun’s worse bursts of anger with equal force. Their fights were epic and Nino sometimes enjoyed himself with causing a bit of mischief between them – hey! They were almost as funny as a good play! – But not very often and never in Ohno’s presence (that softie always felt guilty when quarrels between his brothers and the girls arose and then he became gloomy for days).

~~

Nino turned over in the bed for the umpteenth time. Lately, he was having more and more difficulties to get to sleep and tonight it seemed to be an almost impossible task. He tiredly tossed around in the bed and kicked his pillow with vengeful fury. “Maybe if I drink a cup of hot milk I’ll get to sleep,” he decided some minutes later.

He was getting out of the bed when his attention was caught by a sudden ray of moonlight entering the room. As if it was a signal, the moonlight lit Ohno’s sleeping face, drawing mysterious shadows on his peaceful face. With his breath caught in his throat, Nino gazed mesmerized at the older man, who looked almost magical under the moonlight. Thoughtlessly, he moved closer to the sleeping form, unable to avert his eyes from Ohno’s beautiful face.

As if he were in a dream, Nino slowly kneeled beside Ohno, fixing his eyes on the tempting, sultry lips of the sleeping man. With a hesitant hand, he caressed Ohno’s face softly and couldn’t repress a satisfied smile when the older man slightly leaned against his touch, still asleep.

“It’s now or never,” the small voice in his head pressured him and, this time, he couldn’t ignore its advice anymore. Closing his eyes, Nino slowly leaned down and lightly pressed his lips against Ohno’s.

The kiss was soft and gentle, just an innocent brush, but Nino felt as if his world had been turned upside-down. He slowly sat up, looking at Ohno with wide eyes, and touched his own lips with a trembling hand.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that an awestruck Nino snapped out of his reverie with a shiver caused by the low temperature in the room. In a daze, the young man slowly returned to his bed, still touching his lips, all his thoughts about preparing himself a cup of hot milk forgotten.

“What was that?” he thought, still overwhelmed by the strange feelings the innocent kiss had awakened.

Meanwhile, in the other side of the room, a sleeping Ohno turned over in his bed with a little smile on his lips.


	8. Chapter 8

With a startle, Nino snapped out of his reverie, noticing for the first time Ohno’s gentle hand cupping his elbow. He shot a surprised look at the worried man, blushing furiously when his eyes got irremediably fixed on the other man’s pouting lips.

“Nino, are you o.k.?” insisted Ohno with a frown plastered on his chubby face, raising a hand to check the younger man’s temperature.

“Yes!” Nino shrieked, flinching internally when he heard his high-pitched yelp. “I-It’s just that you took me by surprise,” he lamely replied, blushing even more and trying to calm his fluttering heart. He managed to put a small smile on his lips, trying to play down the strangeness of his reaction.

Ohno looked at him with doubt but he finally shrugged his shoulders, accepting Nino’s explanation. “If you’re sure... But if you begin to feel sick or dizzy call me, o.k.?” the older man made him promise with a dazzling smile before turning away towards the kitchen.

“S-Sure,” replied Nino, blinking away the spots of light caused by Ohno’s bright smile.

He waited until the older man was out of sight and ran up the stairs, hurriedly entering their shared bedroom and closing the door behind him.

“It’s getting worse,” he panted with a hand over his heart, trying to calm its loud thumps. “At this rate, I won’t be able to look him in the face without turning into a tomato,” he grimaced. “But why am I reacting so strangely to his presence? And why do I feel as if a million butterflies are flying in my stomach every time he smiles at me or he cutely scrunches his nose when he’s laughing at one of my jokes?”  
Confused, he rubbed his forehead, trying to understand what was happening, when a sudden thought made him stagger. _“Could it be...”_ he widened his eyes in shock, _“Could it be that I’ve developed a crush on him?!”_

He shook his head vehemently, “No way!” But then he remembered his confused feelings last night when he had kissed Ohno. _“Well, I admit that kissing him wasn’t the most normal reaction in the world but... But...”  
“But what?”_ interrupted the small voice in his mind – the one that compelled him to kiss Ohno last night, - _“You can’t deny that you enjoyed the kiss a lot.”_

_“... Yes, but...”_

_“And weren’t you the one who began to touch him taking advantage of any chance? I don’t think he received that many massages in his life before your arrival!”_

Nino blushed remembering those times. He hadn’t thought he was being so obvious but…

_“I’ve noticed how you ogle him when he’s cutting down the logs!” the voice kept accusing him._ _“_

Nino gulped, as red as a tomato, unable to deny the small voice accusations. _“O.k., o.k., I **might** have a crush on him, but how can I make sure of it?”_ he whined.

 _“That’s easy;”_ the voice replied mischievously, _“kiss him again to make sure that last time wasn’t a one-time thing.”_

Nino made a face, why had the voice begun to sound suspiciously like him?

Not really sure about the idea but unable to come up with other solution, Nino finally decided to carry on with the voice’s suggestion. That night, he waited until he made sure that Ohno was asleep and stealthy left the bed, approaching the sleeping form near the window. Once he was in front of Ohno’s peaceful face, he gulped, licking his lips nervously before pressing them delicately against the other man’s lips.

The feelings of last night returned at full force , making him feel dizzy. With his heart beating loudly in his chest, the younger man began to move away when Ohno mumbled something in his slumber, tripling the electric feeling where their lips were touching. With a gasp, Nino sat back hurriedly, looking at Ohno with wide eyes.

 _“Clearly, this wasn’t a one-time thing,”_ he realized, trying to calm his ragged breath.

 _“Told you so,”_ the voice in his head replied, oozing smugness.


	9. Chapter 9

The next few days were ‘entertaining’ to say the least for Nino. Following his inner voice's smug advice, the young man tried to approach Ohno in different ways – just, you know, to find out what the older man thought of him… and if he got to grope him a bit more, well he wasn’t complaining if Ohno wasn’t.

He was extra helpful in the house chores and got in the habit of accompany Ohno, who had resumed his hobby of fishing as weather got warmer, in his fishing escapades. Both men usually spent their noon near the small river, now showing sings of thawing, situated behind the barn.

Once or twice, Nino tried to initiate a conversation about his new found feelings towards the older man; but he was always stopped by a sudden attack of shyness and uncertainty because Ohno, in spite of not having shown signs of being bothered by Nino’s recent overload of affection - more often than not simply accommodating himself in Nino’s embrace, leaning on the younger man’s side thoughtlessly - hasn’t shown sings of encouraging them either.

Lately, he often caught the older man looking at him as if he was lost in his thoughts, a pensive and a bit sad expression on his face. What was more, Nino noticed, worried, a recent tendency of Ohno's to distance himself from him. He joked with Ohno, trying to find out what he was thinking, but the older man just shrugged his shoulders and changed the topic.

~~

“Hmmm, Nino smells nice,” murmured Ohno, nuzzling his nose against Nino’s neck.

“I’m glad you think that,” replied Nino, steadying the staggering man before he fell down from his chair. “Although I was hoping for something a bit different when I asked you what you think about me.”

Nino sighed and put his arm around the waist of the inebriated man. Who would have guessed that Ohno would get drunk with just a few beers?

When Nino had heard about the party they were going to have, in honor of celebrating Becky’s birthday, he had had the bright idea of making Ohno drunk, offering him a few beers to get him to loosen up a bit. Maybe this way, he would be able to find out what the older man’s feelings about him were.

However, his plan backfired when Ohno had passed from tipsy and talkative to completely drunk and almost mute in a matter of a few minutes.

 _“Darn! Why couldn’t the party end and everybody goes off to bed before he got too drunk to answer my questions?”_ thought Nino with a frown.

“Nino…” murmured Ohno, slowly moving his hand around Nino’s waist. Nino couldn’t repress a shudder when he felt Ohno’s soft lips grazing his neck.

“Wha-“

“I-I have a secret,” the intoxicated man confessed shyly, “… about you… or... maybe it's a-about me,” he added, confused, frowning.

Nino’s ears perked up hearing those words, maybe Ohno was going to tell him about his feelings?

“But… I shouldn’t tell… shouldn’t reveal my secret,” Ohno rambled on. He shook his head drowsily, as if he was trying to clear it.

“Don’t worry Oh-chan, you can tell me your secret and I’ll never reveal it to anybody,” Nino assured the other man, holding him more securely and patting his back softly.

Ohno moved a few centimetres away, enough to be able to look at Nino’s supportive face. He blinked a few times and scrunched his nose cutely, pondering Nino’s answer.

Finally, he seemed to reach a conclusion. “O.k.” he breathed, leaning against Nino’s body again. He put his head in the crook of the younger man’s neck and sighed contentedly.

Nino waited, holding his breath.

“I-I think…”

“Yes?”

Ohno’s body relaxed against Nino, “I-think I’m… I’m… I’m in…”

“Yeees?” Nino didn't dare to breath. _Finally he would know!_

“…”

The nervous boy frowned slightly.

“… Oh-chan?” Nino waited a few seconds, but Ohno didn’t reply. Confused by his silence, Nino carefully pushed Ohno away and was rewarded by a soft puff of breath coming from Ohno’s partly opened mouth, followed by a light snore.

The intoxicated man had fallen asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, Nino woke up and found himself lying down on the bed of their shared bedroom. He rubbed his eyes, disoriented. Why was he in their room when he had fallen asleep in the dinning room? Maybe Ohno had moved him during the night?

With a sudden flash, he remembered last night events; Ohno had fallen asleep before telling him his secret! He frowned, recalling how he had tried to wake the older man up without success. He finally had to give up, moving the sleeping man to the near armchair and snuggling with him, too tired to return to their bedroom.

With a determined expression, Nino jumped out of bed and quickly dressed himself. Last night he might have let Ohno get away without telling him his secret, but today nothing was going to stop him! He softly closed the door behind him and resolutely walked towards the stairs, ready to find the older man and get some answers out of him.

~~

Clearly, the world was against him. Nino sighed dejectedly and moved a bit, trying to take a glimpse of Ohno, who stood rigidly beside the villager’s mayor.

Really, what were the odds of the villagers arriving that morning before he would have time to talk to Ohno?

That morning, when he had stormed in to the kitchen searching for answers - and making Ohno flinch with a pained expression probably caused by his hangover - a sudden commotion outside had interrupted him in the exact moment he had opened his mouth to ask his question.

“We are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join…”

The priest words snapped Nino out of his reverie. Right, they were in the middle of the wedding ceremony.

Although the arrival of the worried families of the kidnapped people – including his father - had been a surprise for everybody – after all, the snow hadn’t even melted in most places, especially in those where the sun didn’t reach, - their reaction once they had made sure that their daughters were safe hadn’t surprised him in the least. They were clearly going to kill the whole family of kidnappers and leave their bodies for the vultures to feast on.

Fortunately, the women had interceded on their captors behalf and they had finally reached an understanding after lots of arguing, pleading and negotiating.

Ohno’s brothers and their brides were currently facing the priest, who was marrying them in a fast ceremony prompted by the angered parents, carrying shotguns… as I said, they were angry and carrying weapons, refusing the quick marriage wasn’t an option for anyone.

He looked again at Ohno, trying to read his face, but the older man had a blank expression that didn’t reveal anything.

 _“What does he think about the sudden arrival of the villagers and the hurried marriage of his brothers?”_ he asked himself. _“And what about me? Does he mind if I leave with the villagers after the ceremony?”_

 _“But… I don’t want to leave,”_ he realized watching Ohno’s rigid figure. _“I want to stay here with him, not in the village with my family.”_ He began to ponder how he was going to tell his father that he was going to stay with their captors.

The wedding ceremony ended too soon for Nino’s taste; he was still choosing the words he would use in his announcement. He distractedly congratulated the newlyweds and approached Ohno.

The older man’s eyes were clouded, as if he were deeply lost in his thoughts; but when Nino appeared in front of him, he seemed to snap out of his reverie. His expression suddenly got stern, as if he had made and important decision.

Before Nino could open his mouth, Ohno took his hands in his and shook them. Nino smiled at him, ready to make his announcement when Ohno’s next words changed everything.

“I hope you can forgive what my brothers did and I’m sure that you’ll be very happy now that you are able to return with your family and your beloved ones.”

 _“W-what?”_ Nino looked at him, shocked, feeling his heart dying a bit with each of Ohno’s words. But before he could utter a single word, his father appeared behind him and put a heavy arm on his shoulder, moving him away from Ohno. “Let’s go Kazunari, it’s time we return home.”

With those words, Nino’s stay with Ohno and his family ended forever.


	11. Chapter 11

Nino exited the main shop, raising his free hand to block the bright light of the sun. He sighed, depressed. Since their separation two weeks ago - the day the villagers rescued them from their captors, - he hasn’t heard any news of Ohno.

Every morning, he woke up missing the sound of the short man’s calm breath. Even worse, he usually found himself unconsciously searching for his sleeping form on the floor of the bedroom, only to realize that he wasn’t in Ohno’s cabin anymore.

How was Ohno doing? What would he be doing now that his brothers were married? _Did he miss Nino as much as Nino missed him?_

With a painful pang in his heart, Nino rubbed his eyes, suddenly wet, and hastily resumed his steps without looking in front of him. Suddenly, he collided with a tall man that was turning around the shop's corner.

“Whoa, watch out!” a raspy voice exclaimed.

“Sor-“

“Nino? Nino! What a surprise to find you here!” the same voice interrupted his apologies.

Nino raised his head, startled. He knew that voice!

“Aiba!” he exclaimed, looking at the lanky man that was smiling in front of him. “Wh- How- what are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to buy some supplies while Becky buys a few pieces of fabric to make a dress,” the tall man explained. “How have you been?”

“O.k.,” Nino replied, “things have been pretty calm since I returned.” He eyed Aiba. _Could this be his long awaited chance to know how Ohno was doing?_

“How-how are all of you doing?” he asked, his heart beating painfully fast inside his chest.

“Things have been calm too. The weather is getting warmer and the women insisted on having separate rooms so we’re building a new extension of the house,” he chirped.

Nino nodded, biting his lower lip hesitantly. Hearing how everybody was doing was nice, but what he really wanted was to have some news about a certain person. Should he ask Aiba about Ohno?

“Everybody is fine…” said Aiba, interrupting Nino’s thoughts. “It’s just that…” Aiba hesitated.

“It’s just that…” repeated Nino tentatively, trying to encourage him.

“Well, it’s nothing really… just that Satoshi is acting a bit strange lately. He’s quieter and more distracted than usual. Sometimes, we hear him sigh when he thinks that there is nobody around. We asked if there was something bothering him, but he didn’t tell us anything, he simply changed the topic. Even the girls have noticed that he’s not being his usual self…”

Nino’s heart beat painfully in his chest, _“Could Ohno be feeling lonely? Did he miss him? But, if that was the case… why hadn’t he tried to contact him?”_

“I think,” Aiba began to say hesitantly.

“Yes?”

“I think he misses you,” the tall man finally blurted out, reddening.

Insecure, as if he wasn’t sure about Nino’s reaction to the news, the tall man averted his eyes from him, fixing them on his boots.

Hearing those words, Nino’s heart made a double flip and his face lightened up. “Really?” he asked, his smile slowly growing up until it threatened to engulf his whole face.

At his hopeful tone, Aiba raised his eyes and looked at him a bit surprised. “Yes,” he affirmed, tilting his head quizzically. “Why? Did you-“

“Listen!” Nino hurriedly interrupted him, “I’m going to need you and your brother’s help with something…” He approached Aiba, making a conspiratorial gesture.

He had devised a great plan and nothing was going to stop him now.


	12. Chapter 12

“We’ve arrived!” a merry voice exclaimed just a second before the door of the little wooden cabin opened.

Nino rubbed his hands expectantly while Ohno’s brothers entered the little room, their cheeks reddened with a mix of cold and excitement.

“Did you bring him?”

“Yeah, he didn’t suspect a thing,” laughed Jun, lightly pushing the wrapped form, carefully tied, towards the middle of the room. A muffled sound of protest came from the ‘package’ but Jun just laughed louder, fondly patting its top.

“Yeah, you should have seen his face when the blanket fell over him,” added Aiba, putting some bags on the wooden floor.

“Well, we’re going to leave now,” Sho smiled at Nino. “Enjoy your ‘present’,” he added with a mischievous wink.

“Don’t worry, I will,” assured Nino, winking back. Waving them goodbye, he put a possessive arm around the wrapped form, slowly leading it towards the fireplace, where a lively fire crackled.

Without further ado, he untied the ropes and lifted the blanket, revealing a mildly angered Ohno.

“Nino, what’s all of this about?” the bothered man asked, fixing a stern glare on the younger man, while rubbing his arms to get warm. When his brothers had foolishly decided to kidnap him, he was just in his shirtsleeves and the blanket that wrapped him didn’t provide very good protection against the cold weather. In fact, a few more months had to pass until the warm spring weather made the temperature in the mountain’s top something akin to bearable.

Seeing him shiver, Nino moved close to the older man and put the discarded blanket over their shoulders, wrapping it tightly around them. “I could say the same to you,” he replied, always a firm believer that the best defense was a good offense. “Your brothers told me that you were missing me so much that you were on the brink of getting ill. Why in hell did you let me leave without saying a single word? You even encouraged me to do it!” He asked, fixing his reproachful eyes on Ohno’s face.

After hearing his question, a myriad of feelings reflected on Ohno’s face; first surprise tinged with a bit of… hope? closely followed by something that faded too fast for Nino to discern and was quickly replaced by an expression of sadness.

The short man softened his features, his anger replaced by resignation, “And what would you expect me to say when you finally were going to reunite with your family and your girlfriend?” he asked softly, turning his head and fixing his eyes on the lively fire. Before Nino could reply, Ohno let the blanket slid off and moved away from him, as if he couldn’t stand being beside him for a second longer.

_“M-my what?”_

“Wait,” protested Nino, already missing Ohno’s warmth, “What are you talking about? What girlfriend?”

“The daughter of the rancher… I heard the girls talk about her one day,” replied Ohno, so quietly that Nino had to make an effort to hear his words.

 _“What the…”_ Nino looked at Ohno, his eyes widen in disbelief. _“The daughter of the rancher?...”_ Suddenly, the image of a pretty and selfish girl flashed in his mind. “Is he talking about her?”

He remembered helping that girl with her cart one day she had come to the village. Days latter, her sister had told him about the crazy rumors that circulated about them in the village. He suspected that the girl herself had started them, too self-centered to realize the damage those rumors could cause. He had denied the rumors, of course, but he knew that some people of the village, who loved gossips more than anything, had preferred to believe her version instead of his, adorning and distorting the tale with the passing days.

“I don’t know what you heard but I assure you that I don’t have a girlfriend!” he vehemently assured Ohno, approaching him and putting the blanket around his shoulders again . “The girl they were talking about got infatuated with me after I helped her one day. And then, she started a whole bunch of rumors about us being together. Those rumors still circulate around the village, but they aren’t true; she has never been my girlfriend.”

Ohno turned his head towards him to read the truth in his eyes, “Really?”

“Really.”

After a few seconds, Ohno slowly nodded, “I believe you.” After his words, the short man’s body seemed to release all the tension that he had been holding at once and he smiled brightly at Nino, who smiled back at him, happy about having all the misunderstandings cleared up. He snuggled close to Ohno and, this time, Ohno reciprocated him snuggling even closer and wrapping his arm around Nino’s waist.

Seated on the thick rug made of fur and wrapped up in the blanket, they stared at the fire in companionable silence.

“Nino.” Whispered Ohno after a few minutes. “Why-why did you make my brothers kidnap me?”

Nino looked at the other man in disbelief. “What?! You still don’t get it?”

“W-well,” Ohno hurried to reply, blushing a little. “If you wanted to talk to me, there was no need to go to these extremes, was there? You could have told my brothers to ask me to visit you or you could have come home to see how things were going.”

When Nino rolled his eyes, letting out a long sigh of suffering, Ohno pouted defensively. “What? I’m just saying!”

“Let’s just say I decided to take your brothers’ wonderful example and get myself a lovely… _groom_.” The black haired boy ended his words with a soft kiss on Ohno’s still pouting lips.

Ohno gasped, surprised, fixing his eyes on Nino, who winked at him playfully. A moment later they were smiling happily at each other.

“By the way,” Nino commented in a conversational tone, “as part of our deal, your brothers have blocked the road to this cabin, so we’re stranded here until the snow melts.”

Ohno looked at him, surprised. “But the supplies?...” he gasped.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, we’ve plenty of supplies,” Nino dismissed his worries. “On the other hand, I’m not so sure about our reserves of wood… I think we’ll have to share the bed… no, in fact, I can guarantee you that we’ll have to do it,” he told Ohno with a mischievous smile.

Ohno blinked a few times, processing the news, but finally a smile as mischievous as Nino’s began to form on his face, “I love the way you think.”

“And I love you,” replied Nino, cupping his face and leaning down to kiss him for the second time.

This time, Ohno kissed him back.

 

**END**


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